The WNBA Is On a Winning Streak. Is It Sustainable?

On with Kara Swisher

New York Magazine

Society & Culture

4.2 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2026

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kara sits down with New York Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai to talk about betting big on the WNBA and why the momentum for women’s sports isn’t slowing down. Clara explains why she saw the Liberty as a distressed asset worth rebuilding and how investments in players, facilities and visibility helped fuel a turnaround. She breaks down what’s driving the WNBA’s growth, from the Caitlin Clark effect to media deals, and why, despite surging popularity, the league is still undervalued. They also get into league expansion, the new collective bargaining agreement and the economics behind it all. Plus: Clara’s Human Performance Alliance and her push to close the data gap in women’s sports science. This episode was taped live at the CAA World Congress of Sports presented by Sports Business Journal. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You don't like being talked about?
0:02.0	Do you?
0:03.0	I don't care.
0:04.0	I care less.
0:05.0	Yeah, I do.
0:06.0	I care less.
0:07.0	Yeah, I do.
0:08.0	But I like troll them back and I'm excellent at it and they lose every time.
0:11.0	So I'm not a sports person, but I'm very competitive.
0:15.0	It's on. Hi, everyone from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
0:29.2	This is on with Kara Swisher, and I'm Kara Swisher.
0:32.2	My guest today is Clara Wu-Sai, owner of the WNBA's New York Liberty and the NBA's Brooklyn Nets.
0:39.7	Clara and her husband, Alibaba co-founder, Joe Si, purchased the Liberty in 2019 during a low
0:45.5	point for the franchise. Its previous owner, James Dolan, had put the team up for sale in 2017
0:51.1	and moved it from Madison Square Garden to a small arena in Westchester County,
0:55.9	New York. But Clara made a big bet on the New York Liberty and the WNBA. She moved the team to
1:01.7	the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, invested in player facilities, fan experiences, and recruited
1:06.1	top talent, which kicked off a major turnaround and coincided with a surge in popularity for the
1:11.9	WNBA. And to cap it off, the Liberty won the league championship in 2024. In addition to turning
1:18.9	Liberty into a winning franchise, Clara's work across business and philanthropy led to the creation
1:23.9	of the Wussai Human Performance Alliance, a six university research initiative
1:28.8	that studies peak human performance and aims to close the data gap in women's sports science.
	...

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